Lê Phổ - (1907–2001)

Lê Phổ was born near Hanoi into an aristocratic family, and received a privileged education steeped in classical Chinese literature alongside French schooling. His formal artistic training began at the famed École des Beaux-Arts de l’Indochine (EBAI) in Hanoi, where he studied under Victor Tardieu from 1925 to 1930 as a member of its inaugural class. In 1931, Lê Phổ oversaw the EBAI’s presentation at the International Colonial Exhibition in Paris. He earned a scholarship to further his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris, before returning to Vietnam and embarking on a seven-year teaching career. In 1937, he was appointed a delegate and artistic director for the Indochina section of the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne and returned to Paris. He settled permanently in France, where he would live and work for the rest of his life. 

While best known as a painter—mastering both silk and oil—he was also an accomplished lacquer artist, decorator, and even a designer of fashion and jewelry. His oeuvre is celebrated for its poetic elegance, often depicting serene scenes of family life, graceful women, and lush floral still life works that blend Vietnamese sensibility with European technique. 

His work is held in the permanent collections of major institutions worldwide, including the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts in Hanoi, the National Gallery of Singapore, and the Fukuoka Art Museum. This institutional recognition culminated in a series of high-profile exhibitions: his 1931 painting Jeune fille en blanc was featured in the 2024 Venice Biennale presentation of the National Gallery of Singapore, followed by a landmark group exhibition, Lê Phổ, Mai-Thu, Vu Cao Dam: Pioneers of Modern Vietnamese Art in France, at Paris’s Musée Cernuschi (2024–2025). Concurrently, his work appeared in the National Gallery Singapore's exhibition City of Others: Asian Artists in Paris, 1920s–1940s (2025).  

selected artworks

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